ATLANTA (SMU) – SMU head men’s basketball coach Larry Brownhas been tabbed one of five finalists for the 2014 Naismith Coach of the Year award, given by the Atlanta Sports Council. Brown won the award with Kansas in 1988, a team that would go on to win the national title.

Brown, who is in his second season on the Hilltop, and the Mustangs (24-9) have posted the top NCAA RPI turnaround from 2012-13 to 2013-14, improving their mark 160 spots from 213 a year ago to 53 in Monday’s (March 17) latest release.

SMU was 4-3 against ranked opponents in the regular season, and was ranked in the AP Poll for the first time since the 1984-85 season. The Mustangs were also ranked in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history and sold out seven home games, the most since Moody Coliseum opened in 1956. The Mustangs are 16-1 in Moody Coliseum this year.

Notable victories for the Mustangs this season include a 76-55 win over then-No. 7/7 Cincinnati (Feb. 8), the program’s first over a team in the AP top-10 since 1986-87, and its first on-campus AP top-10 win since 1966-67. SMU’s win over then-No. 17/15 Connecticut (Jan. 4) in the Moody Coliseum re-opening was its first over a ranked opponent since the 2003-04 season.

Top-seeded SMU defeated UC Irvine in the NIT First Round on Wednesday (68-54), and will host LSU in the NIT Second Round on Monday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. Tickets are still available for the Mustangs’ 12th game in Moody Coliseum, and can be purchased on SMUMustangs.com.

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